Mathematical Thinking & Visualization (MTV) draws on mathematics, statistics, and visual studies to develop new practices and tools for discovering, analyzing, and representing data. The major allows students to link mathematical thinking – the ability to recognize mathematical forms in relation to real-world phenomena – and data and information visualization – the ability to communicate and think about data in visualized form across contexts.
Students graduating with an MTV major may enter into the wide variety of fields focused on data analysis and visualization, including statistics, visual analytics, and geographic information systems and sciences.
More information about career possibilities or pursuing graduate school.
MTV Major Requirements
Prerequisites
In addition to the general admission requirements, students must have completed the following prerequisites to be considered for admission to the Bachelor of Arts in Mathematical Thinking & Visualization:
- one quarter of calculus
- one quarter of linear algebra
Students can complete these regularly taught courses at UW Bothell or at another institution. These courses provide underpinnings of the quantitative models and essential mathematical ideas.
Degree Requirements
- BIS 300 Interdisciplinary Inquiry* (5 credits)
- BIS 209 Engaging Visual and Media Arts (5 credits)
- BIS 232 Visualizing Quantitative Data (5 credits)
- BIS 315 Understanding Statistics (5 credits)
- Mathematical Reasoning Courses (10 credits)
- Visualization Practice and Methods Courses (10 credits)
- Mathematical Reasoning Course OR Visualization Practice and Methods Course (5 credits)
- BIS 499 Portfolio Capstone - min. 2.5 grade (3 credits)
- Additional IAS Coursework (20 credits)
TOTAL = 68 Credits
*Should be taken in the first quarter of IAS enrollment.
Note: Classes in this major will be offered primarily during day-time hours.
Mathematical Reasoning Courses:
Students will choose at least two courses that will help them develop the mathematical tools gained in their prerequisite and core courses. This list will evolve as curricula across UWB change; courses in this category explicitly study mathematical principles. That emphasis is manifest in their readings, assignments, and evaluation. This criterion does not exclude courses with substantial application, but a student finishing a course in this category should be able to reflect critically on the mathematical principles learned, in a way that aids their thoughtful application elsewhere.
These courses will include
- BIS 230 Mathematical Thinking for the Liberal Arts
- BIS 302 Issues in Mathematics Across Cultures
- BIS 329 Topics in Mathematics Across the Curriculum
- BIS 350 The Concept of Number
- BIS 447 Topics in Quantitative Inquiry
- CSS 107 Introduction to Programming through Animated Storytelling
- CSS 161 Fundamentals of Computing
- CSS 162 Programming Methodology
- STMATH 125 Calculus II
- STMATH 126 Calculus III
- STMATH 300 Foundations of Modern Mathematics
- STMATH 310 Mathematical Game Theory
School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS) Requirements & Policies
Interdisciplinary Practice & Reflection (IPR)
The IPR requirement can be completed through elective credits or it can overlap with major coursework.
Areas of Knowledge
25 credits must be completed in each Area of Knowledge. The Areas of Knowledge are: Visual, Literary and Performing Arts (VLPA), Individuals and Societies (I&S), and Natural World (NW).
Multiply-designated courses may not be double-counted as fulfilling two Areas of Knowledge. Courses may apply to both an Area of Knowledge requirement and an LEPP major requirement.
Upper Division Credit Policy
Of the credits applying to LEPP major requirements, a minimum of 48 must be completed at the Upper Division (300-400) level.
Matriculated status
Courses taken to satisfy MTV major requirements must be completed in matriculated status.
Admitted prior to Autumn Quarter, 2016?
Students admitted to the LEPP major prior to Autumn 2016 may be eligible to complete an older set of major requirements. For more information, please check Requirement Changes Autumn 2016 page.
Learning objectives
Undergraduate students in all majors within Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS) focus on five core learning objectives: collaboration and shared leadership; critical and creative thinking; diversity and equity; interdisciplinary research and inquiry; writing and communication.
Collaboration and Shared Leadership
IAS students develop their collaboration and shared leadership abilities by learning to work with others to identify dimensions of a project, generate and refine ideas, follow through on the consequences of collective decisions, and pursue specific tasks without losing a sense of the whole. As part of this process, they learn to assess and draw on group members' diverse histories, strengths, and potential contributions. They develop skills in listening, mediating conflict, playing different roles, and reflecting on the outcomes of collaborative work. Students learn different ways of managing groups, communicating effectively and respectfully across differences, and reflecting critically and creatively on collaboration processes.
Critical and Creative Thinking
IAS students develop their critical and creative thinking abilities by learning how to identify assumptions, and to work out how those assumptions inform results. They assess multiple perspectives, with an eye to understanding why and how they differ, and developing the capacity to engage in controversy productively. Students learn to identify central questions or concerns informing other work, and to develop their own work with an awareness of their own social positions and clear animating questions. Students develop a range of skills in interpretation, analysis, argumentation, application, synthesis, evaluation, and reflection.
Diversity and Equity
IAS students develop their ability to live and work within and across diverse communities composed of multiple intersecting identities. Learning from the lived experiences, creative expressions and intellectual perspectives of historically-marginalized groups, students recognize and name historical and cultural relationships between power, knowledge, and difference. They develop the confidence and skills needed to transform unequal relations of power ethically and self-reflexively in order to foster greater equity.
Interdisciplinary Research and Inquiry
IAS students develop their ability to assess and conduct interdisciplinary research by engaging with and across multiple areas of knowledge and kinds of inquiry. They learn to think critically and creatively as they develop research questions, pursue them with appropriate sources and methods, and present results in a form suited to their purpose and intended audience. In this process, they learn to position their own work in relation to other research literatures and methods of inquiry, and in relation to relevant debates and diverse social contexts.
Writing and Communication
IAS students develop their writing and communication abilities by advancing an awareness of the interconnected relationships between purpose, audience, author and context. They learn to communicate their purposes effectively to diverse audiences through writing, presentations, and other media, and to use a range of evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, to develop ideas and support claims in ways that best serve their needs. As part of this process, they develop the ability to indicate clearly and self-reflexively the ways their specific acts of communication relate to the work of others.